My experiences with Owen Priest and Advanced Racing Dynamics VERY LONG AND VERY BAD
10-15-2006, 02:44 AM
#1
My experiences with Owen Priest and Advanced Racing Dynamics VERY LONG AND VERY BAD well this is going to be a very long post, so ill start off by saying STAY AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE FROM OWEN PRIEST AND ADVANCED RACING DYNAMICS (ARD) AS POSSIBLE im serious this guy is horrible. i just got back from being on the side of I-35 for like 2 hours because of this guys horrible workmanship. I cant believe i gave my car to him, my car is my baby, i feel so stupid.
I bought my car (user Firminater's old car) from Kevin Firmin on March 15, 2005 and soon after a lifter tick developed, pulled the heads off, found my problem, which was a lifter that had half of the roller break off and was completely jammed in the lifter bore. All the bearings had spilled into the motor. I had to pry it out and was like time for a different shortblock.
May 2005, yes i said 2005 So i begin to call around shops and I didnt like what i heard. It was either a fully forged shortblock or a brand new longblock. I didnt have the money for either, they were very expensive. Then i called ARD, they said they give me a rebuilt 6.0 iron shortblock for a very good price. I decided to go with ARD, what a HUGE mistake.
I am at school right now, and i dont have all information and paperwork with me. Now remember these brands, this is very important in the story. The build specs for the motor were to be NEW rings (stock 6.0) and bearings (clevite, durabond), Mellings Oil Pump, Crane double roller timing chain, Comp R Lifters, a good cylinder hone, etc etc, other stuff, yada yada yada and a tune.
Fast forward to sometime after July 15, 2005. I get the car back from Owen and soon after the oil pressure is horrible (like maybe 20 psi hot idle). I havent even had the car a day. I see one of his techs driving around, I flag him down, he sees the shitty pressure, tells me to bring it in the next day.
Bring the car in the next day and I get a call later that a rod bolt broke and was preventing the motor from recieiving proper lubrication. (I think this is BS.) He says he's gonna put in ARP Rod bolts. I say beautiful.
Pick the car up, now the bitch smokes like a ****** freight train. Call Owen, he says use different oil. i use different oil. Same thing, smokes like cheech n chong. Call owen, he says bring it in. I bring it in, he says time for another rebuild, complements of ARD.
**This will definitely not be the last time this motor gets rebuilt complements of ARD. The motor was rebuilt on ARD's dollar at least like 3 or 4 times. This bullshit started last summer time and like i mentioned earlier, i am still suffering from his crappy workmanship as i type this sentence.
For the sake of our time, lets fast forward a few builds later. All of the rebuilds were due to the same problem, burning oil and smoking like a freight train, everytime. All rebuilds were on ARD's dollar.
Ok i am on the last of Owen @ ARD's builds and it is time for him to tune it. Strap that baby on the dyno and he pulls it. First run, the headgaskets blow. Hmmmmm. Owen and his tech who is in the car do not know this tho, neither do i, i find out later. Get ready for this, they procede to do 3 more FULL pulls Afterwards, Owen's wife comes out and notices the coolant under the dyno from my car and breaks the news. ARD says we are taking the heads off to make sure they are still straight.
I get a call that my heads are still straight and will be going back on the car. I pick up the car later, and I cant even make it to my house, before I have shitty oil pressure. I dont even live 30 mins away. This is terrible. Call owen, bring it back in, NEW Oil Pump, a Mellings, just like i paid for, or so i thought.
Pick the car up with the new pump, leave to go home, same situation again, shitty *** oil pressure like before. Bring it back, same routine. By this time, I have had enough and keep my car with me.
My ARD motor came with a one year unlimited mile warranty. Now i have had this motor and all its problems for about 9 months, and i am very concerned with many factors, motor durability, being the most important. I have had the car for about a year or so, and its been at ARD longer than its been in my driveway.
My father and I go to speak with Owen about extending the warranty, he is very stubborn and says he will not extend the warranty on this motor, not one day. Now thats what i call quality customer service, Im freaking done with this fool.
Summer 2006. One Year and I have yet to have a fully functioning car. I give Bryan @ LME a call, and soon after he has my motor after I removed it. HERE COMES THE BEST PART , discoveries upon dissassembly. Oh the delight. Remember that Mellings Oil Pump i mentioned earlier? HAHA ya right, it was a broken GM Oil pump, with severe scarring and discoloration, which was found after we had to remove the STRIPPED bolts to examine it, and thats just the beginning. The rings were stock LS1 rings, reused my from my original motor. Now if i remember correctly, the LS1 and LQX do not have the same bore, and using LS1 rings in a LQX would result in severe oil consumption issues. The Crane double roller timing set i paid for? HAHAHAHA think again, it was the stocker. Bryan mentioned how horrible the hone was, another thing i paid for ARD to do, that didnt get done, even tho they had my car forever.
*****Bryan and the crew at LME have taken care of me very well. Very good builders over there guys, dont hesitate to get it done right the first time. I honestly cannot thank them enough. THANK YOU LME!!
Now dont even get me started on the man's horrrrrrible workmanship. Everyting was done to get by just by the seat of your ***. I had flywheel bolts in the crossmember, I only had 2 bolts holding my coil packs to the VCs, many wires and sensors had been cut and/or severely damaged, 2 bolts holding the AC compressor on, I mean there was problematic bullshit everywhere, way way too much to list. Owen Priest should not be touching an LS1 car, thats all I have to say. Oh and you should see the garage, it looks like a **** bomb exploded in there.
**************This thread is dropping the hammer on his shop LIGHTLY. There are many more things that I could type about, but i think that you guys get the jist of it. Now you know why you never see any ARD cars putting up numbers at the track, or any ARD street cars roaming the streets of houston, cuz they are all dead, because of ARDs horrible services. Hell, the shop car doesnt even run.
CLIFF NOTES: DONT EVER TAKE YOUR CAR TO ARD, EVER. OWEN PREIST = BAD. I apologize for not posting this earlier.
Edit: its late and i need some sleep. I apologize if there seems to be some bubbles in my explanation, I had to recall about a year of problems because of this guy in not even an hour.
EDIT 2: Where would I make a thread about a severe electrical problem my car is having?
EDIT 3: DUY (sc300) i would definitely stay away from ARD after reading this
I bought my car (user Firminater's old car) from Kevin Firmin on March 15, 2005 and soon after a lifter tick developed, pulled the heads off, found my problem, which was a lifter that had half of the roller break off and was completely jammed in the lifter bore. All the bearings had spilled into the motor. I had to pry it out and was like time for a different shortblock.
May 2005, yes i said 2005 So i begin to call around shops and I didnt like what i heard. It was either a fully forged shortblock or a brand new longblock. I didnt have the money for either, they were very expensive. Then i called ARD, they said they give me a rebuilt 6.0 iron shortblock for a very good price. I decided to go with ARD, what a HUGE mistake.
I am at school right now, and i dont have all information and paperwork with me. Now remember these brands, this is very important in the story. The build specs for the motor were to be NEW rings (stock 6.0) and bearings (clevite, durabond), Mellings Oil Pump, Crane double roller timing chain, Comp R Lifters, a good cylinder hone, etc etc, other stuff, yada yada yada and a tune.
Fast forward to sometime after July 15, 2005. I get the car back from Owen and soon after the oil pressure is horrible (like maybe 20 psi hot idle). I havent even had the car a day. I see one of his techs driving around, I flag him down, he sees the shitty pressure, tells me to bring it in the next day.
Bring the car in the next day and I get a call later that a rod bolt broke and was preventing the motor from recieiving proper lubrication. (I think this is BS.) He says he's gonna put in ARP Rod bolts. I say beautiful.
Pick the car up, now the bitch smokes like a ****** freight train. Call Owen, he says use different oil. i use different oil. Same thing, smokes like cheech n chong. Call owen, he says bring it in. I bring it in, he says time for another rebuild, complements of ARD.
**This will definitely not be the last time this motor gets rebuilt complements of ARD. The motor was rebuilt on ARD's dollar at least like 3 or 4 times. This bullshit started last summer time and like i mentioned earlier, i am still suffering from his crappy workmanship as i type this sentence.
For the sake of our time, lets fast forward a few builds later. All of the rebuilds were due to the same problem, burning oil and smoking like a freight train, everytime. All rebuilds were on ARD's dollar.
Ok i am on the last of Owen @ ARD's builds and it is time for him to tune it. Strap that baby on the dyno and he pulls it. First run, the headgaskets blow. Hmmmmm. Owen and his tech who is in the car do not know this tho, neither do i, i find out later. Get ready for this, they procede to do 3 more FULL pulls Afterwards, Owen's wife comes out and notices the coolant under the dyno from my car and breaks the news. ARD says we are taking the heads off to make sure they are still straight.
I get a call that my heads are still straight and will be going back on the car. I pick up the car later, and I cant even make it to my house, before I have shitty oil pressure. I dont even live 30 mins away. This is terrible. Call owen, bring it back in, NEW Oil Pump, a Mellings, just like i paid for, or so i thought.
Pick the car up with the new pump, leave to go home, same situation again, shitty *** oil pressure like before. Bring it back, same routine. By this time, I have had enough and keep my car with me.
My ARD motor came with a one year unlimited mile warranty. Now i have had this motor and all its problems for about 9 months, and i am very concerned with many factors, motor durability, being the most important. I have had the car for about a year or so, and its been at ARD longer than its been in my driveway.
My father and I go to speak with Owen about extending the warranty, he is very stubborn and says he will not extend the warranty on this motor, not one day. Now thats what i call quality customer service, Im freaking done with this fool. Summer 2006. One Year and I have yet to have a fully functioning car. I give Bryan @ LME a call, and soon after he has my motor after I removed it. HERE COMES THE BEST PART , discoveries upon dissassembly. Oh the delight. Remember that Mellings Oil Pump i mentioned earlier? HAHA ya right, it was a broken GM Oil pump, with severe scarring and discoloration, which was found after we had to remove the STRIPPED bolts to examine it, and thats just the beginning. The rings were stock LS1 rings, reused my from my original motor. Now if i remember correctly, the LS1 and LQX do not have the same bore, and using LS1 rings in a LQX would result in severe oil consumption issues. The Crane double roller timing set i paid for? HAHAHAHA think again, it was the stocker. Bryan mentioned how horrible the hone was, another thing i paid for ARD to do, that didnt get done, even tho they had my car forever.
*****Bryan and the crew at LME have taken care of me very well. Very good builders over there guys, dont hesitate to get it done right the first time. I honestly cannot thank them enough. THANK YOU LME!!
Now dont even get me started on the man's horrrrrrible workmanship. Everyting was done to get by just by the seat of your ***. I had flywheel bolts in the crossmember, I only had 2 bolts holding my coil packs to the VCs, many wires and sensors had been cut and/or severely damaged, 2 bolts holding the AC compressor on, I mean there was problematic bullshit everywhere, way way too much to list. Owen Priest should not be touching an LS1 car, thats all I have to say. Oh and you should see the garage, it looks like a **** bomb exploded in there.
**************This thread is dropping the hammer on his shop LIGHTLY. There are many more things that I could type about, but i think that you guys get the jist of it. Now you know why you never see any ARD cars putting up numbers at the track, or any ARD street cars roaming the streets of houston, cuz they are all dead, because of ARDs horrible services. Hell, the shop car doesnt even run.
CLIFF NOTES: DONT EVER TAKE YOUR CAR TO ARD, EVER. OWEN PREIST = BAD. I apologize for not posting this earlier.
Edit: its late and i need some sleep. I apologize if there seems to be some bubbles in my explanation, I had to recall about a year of problems because of this guy in not even an hour.
EDIT 2: Where would I make a thread about a severe electrical problem my car is having?
EDIT 3: DUY (sc300) i would definitely stay away from ARD after reading this
10-15-2006, 03:30 AM
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Originally Posted by jdoyle
well this is going to be a very long post, so ill start off by saying STAY AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE FROM OWEN PRIEST AND ADVANCED RACING DYNAMICS (ARD) AS POSSIBLE im serious this guy is horrible. i just got back from being on the side of I-35 for like 2 hours because of this guys horrible workmanship. I cant believe i gave my car to him, my car is my baby, i feel so stupid.
I bought my car (user Firminater's old car) from Kevin Firmin on March 15, 2005 and soon after a lifter tick developed, pulled the heads off, found my problem, which was a lifter that had half of the roller break off and was completely jammed in the lifter bore. All the bearings had spilled into the motor. I had to pry it out and was like time for a different shortblock.
May 2005, yes i said 2005 So i begin to call around shops and I didnt like what i heard. It was either a fully forged shortblock or a brand new longblock. I didnt have the money for either, they were very expensive. Then i called ARD, they said they give me a rebuilt 6.0 iron shortblock for a very good price. I decided to go with ARD, what a HUGE mistake.
I am at school right now, and i dont have all information and paperwork with me. Now remember these brands, this is very important in the story. The build specs for the motor were to be NEW rings (stock 6.0) and bearings (clevite, durabond), Mellings Oil Pump, Crane double roller timing chain, Comp R Lifters, a good cylinder hone, etc etc, other stuff, yada yada yada and a tune.
Fast forward to sometime after July 15, 2005. I get the car back from Owen and soon after the oil pressure is horrible (like maybe 20 psi hot idle). I havent even had the car a day. I see one of his techs driving around, I flag him down, he sees the shitty pressure, tells me to bring it in the next day.
Bring the car in the next day and I get a call later that a rod bolt broke and was preventing the motor from recieiving proper lubrication. (I think this is BS.) He says he's gonna put in ARP Rod bolts. I say beautiful.
Pick the car up, now the bitch smokes like a ****** freight train. Call Owen, he says use different oil. i use different oil. Same thing, smokes like cheech n chong. Call owen, he says bring it in. I bring it in, he says time for another rebuild, complements of ARD.
**This will definitely not be the last time this motor gets rebuilt complements of ARD. The motor was rebuilt on ARD's dollar at least like 3 or 4 times. This bullshit started last summer time and like i mentioned earlier, i am still suffering from his crappy workmanship as i type this sentence.
For the sake of our time, lets fast forward a few builds later. All of the rebuilds were due to the same problem, burning oil and smoking like a freight train, everytime. All rebuilds were on ARD's dollar.
Ok i am on the last of Owen @ ARD's builds and it is time for him to tune it. Strap that baby on the dyno and he pulls it. First run, the headgaskets blow. Hmmmmm. Owen and his tech who is in the car do not know this tho, neither do i, i find out later. Get ready for this, they procede to do 3 more FULL pulls Afterwards, Owen's wife comes out and notices the coolant under the dyno from my car and breaks the news. ARD says we are taking the heads off to make sure they are still straight.
I get a call that my heads are still straight and will be going back on the car. I pick up the car later, and I cant even make it to my house, before I have shitty oil pressure. I dont even live 30 mins away. This is terrible. Call owen, bring it back in, NEW Oil Pump, a Mellings, just like i paid for, or so i thought.
Pick the car up with the new pump, leave to go home, same situation again, shitty *** oil pressure like before. Bring it back, same routine. By this time, I have had enough and keep my car with me.
My ARD motor came with a one year unlimited mile warranty. Now i have had this motor and all its problems for about 9 months, and i am very concerned with many factors, motor durability, being the most important. I have had the car for about a year or so, and its been at ARD longer than its been in my driveway. My father and I go to speak with Owen about extending the warranty, he is very stubborn and says he will not extend the warranty on this motor, not one day. Now thats what i call quality customer service, Im freaking done with this fool.
Summer 2006. One Year and I have yet to have a fully functioning car. I give Bryan @ LME a call, and soon after he has my motor after I removed it. HERE COMES THE BEST PART , discoveries upon dissassembly. Oh the delight. Remember that Mellings Oil Pump i mentioned earlier? HAHA ya right, it was a broken GM Oil pump, with severe scarring and discoloration, which was found after we had to remove the STRIPPED bolts to examine it, and thats just the beginning. The rings were stock LS1 rings, reused my from my original motor. Now if i remember correctly, the LS1 and LQX do not have the same bore, and using LS1 rings in a LQX would result in severe oil consumption issues. The Crane double roller timing set i paid for? HAHAHAHA think again, it was the stocker. Bryan mentioned how horrible the hone was, another thing i paid for ARD to do, that didnt get done, even tho they had my car forever.
*****Bryan and the crew at LME have taken care of me very well. Very good builders over there guys, dont hesitate to get it done right the first time. I honestly cannot thank them enough. THANK YOU LME!!
Now dont even get me started on the man's horrrrrrible workmanship. Everyting was done to get by just by the seat of your ***. I had flywheel bolts in the crossmember, I only had 2 bolts holding my coil packs to the VCs, many wires and sensors had been cut and/or severely damaged, 2 bolts holding the AC compressor on, I mean there was problematic bullshit everywhere, way way too much to list. Owen Priest should not be touching an LS1 car, thats all I have to say. Oh and you should see the garage, it looks like a **** bomb exploded in there.
**************This thread is dropping the hammer on his shop LIGHTLY. There are many more things that I could type about, but i think that you guys get the jist of it. Now you know why you never see any ARD cars putting up numbers at the track, or any ARD street cars roaming the streets of houston, cuz they are all dead, because of ARDs horrible services. Hell, the shop car doesnt even run.
CLIFF NOTES: DONT EVER TAKE YOUR CAR TO ARD, EVER. OWEN PREIST = BAD. I apologize for not posting this earlier.
Edit: its late and i need some sleep. I apologize if there seems to be some bubbles in my explanation, I had to recall about a year of problems because of this guy in not even an hour.
EDIT 2: Where would I make a thread about a severe electrical problem my car is having?
EDIT 3: DUY (sc300) i would definitely stay away from ARD after reading this
I bought my car (user Firminater's old car) from Kevin Firmin on March 15, 2005 and soon after a lifter tick developed, pulled the heads off, found my problem, which was a lifter that had half of the roller break off and was completely jammed in the lifter bore. All the bearings had spilled into the motor. I had to pry it out and was like time for a different shortblock.
May 2005, yes i said 2005 So i begin to call around shops and I didnt like what i heard. It was either a fully forged shortblock or a brand new longblock. I didnt have the money for either, they were very expensive. Then i called ARD, they said they give me a rebuilt 6.0 iron shortblock for a very good price. I decided to go with ARD, what a HUGE mistake.
I am at school right now, and i dont have all information and paperwork with me. Now remember these brands, this is very important in the story. The build specs for the motor were to be NEW rings (stock 6.0) and bearings (clevite, durabond), Mellings Oil Pump, Crane double roller timing chain, Comp R Lifters, a good cylinder hone, etc etc, other stuff, yada yada yada and a tune.
Fast forward to sometime after July 15, 2005. I get the car back from Owen and soon after the oil pressure is horrible (like maybe 20 psi hot idle). I havent even had the car a day. I see one of his techs driving around, I flag him down, he sees the shitty pressure, tells me to bring it in the next day.
Bring the car in the next day and I get a call later that a rod bolt broke and was preventing the motor from recieiving proper lubrication. (I think this is BS.) He says he's gonna put in ARP Rod bolts. I say beautiful.
Pick the car up, now the bitch smokes like a ****** freight train. Call Owen, he says use different oil. i use different oil. Same thing, smokes like cheech n chong. Call owen, he says bring it in. I bring it in, he says time for another rebuild, complements of ARD.
**This will definitely not be the last time this motor gets rebuilt complements of ARD. The motor was rebuilt on ARD's dollar at least like 3 or 4 times. This bullshit started last summer time and like i mentioned earlier, i am still suffering from his crappy workmanship as i type this sentence.
For the sake of our time, lets fast forward a few builds later. All of the rebuilds were due to the same problem, burning oil and smoking like a freight train, everytime. All rebuilds were on ARD's dollar.
Ok i am on the last of Owen @ ARD's builds and it is time for him to tune it. Strap that baby on the dyno and he pulls it. First run, the headgaskets blow. Hmmmmm. Owen and his tech who is in the car do not know this tho, neither do i, i find out later. Get ready for this, they procede to do 3 more FULL pulls Afterwards, Owen's wife comes out and notices the coolant under the dyno from my car and breaks the news. ARD says we are taking the heads off to make sure they are still straight.
I get a call that my heads are still straight and will be going back on the car. I pick up the car later, and I cant even make it to my house, before I have shitty oil pressure. I dont even live 30 mins away. This is terrible. Call owen, bring it back in, NEW Oil Pump, a Mellings, just like i paid for, or so i thought.
Pick the car up with the new pump, leave to go home, same situation again, shitty *** oil pressure like before. Bring it back, same routine. By this time, I have had enough and keep my car with me.
My ARD motor came with a one year unlimited mile warranty. Now i have had this motor and all its problems for about 9 months, and i am very concerned with many factors, motor durability, being the most important. I have had the car for about a year or so, and its been at ARD longer than its been in my driveway.
My father and I go to speak with Owen about extending the warranty, he is very stubborn and says he will not extend the warranty on this motor, not one day. Now thats what i call quality customer service, Im freaking done with this fool. Summer 2006. One Year and I have yet to have a fully functioning car. I give Bryan @ LME a call, and soon after he has my motor after I removed it. HERE COMES THE BEST PART , discoveries upon dissassembly. Oh the delight. Remember that Mellings Oil Pump i mentioned earlier? HAHA ya right, it was a broken GM Oil pump, with severe scarring and discoloration, which was found after we had to remove the STRIPPED bolts to examine it, and thats just the beginning. The rings were stock LS1 rings, reused my from my original motor. Now if i remember correctly, the LS1 and LQX do not have the same bore, and using LS1 rings in a LQX would result in severe oil consumption issues. The Crane double roller timing set i paid for? HAHAHAHA think again, it was the stocker. Bryan mentioned how horrible the hone was, another thing i paid for ARD to do, that didnt get done, even tho they had my car forever.
*****Bryan and the crew at LME have taken care of me very well. Very good builders over there guys, dont hesitate to get it done right the first time. I honestly cannot thank them enough. THANK YOU LME!!
Now dont even get me started on the man's horrrrrrible workmanship. Everyting was done to get by just by the seat of your ***. I had flywheel bolts in the crossmember, I only had 2 bolts holding my coil packs to the VCs, many wires and sensors had been cut and/or severely damaged, 2 bolts holding the AC compressor on, I mean there was problematic bullshit everywhere, way way too much to list. Owen Priest should not be touching an LS1 car, thats all I have to say. Oh and you should see the garage, it looks like a **** bomb exploded in there.
**************This thread is dropping the hammer on his shop LIGHTLY. There are many more things that I could type about, but i think that you guys get the jist of it. Now you know why you never see any ARD cars putting up numbers at the track, or any ARD street cars roaming the streets of houston, cuz they are all dead, because of ARDs horrible services. Hell, the shop car doesnt even run.
CLIFF NOTES: DONT EVER TAKE YOUR CAR TO ARD, EVER. OWEN PREIST = BAD. I apologize for not posting this earlier.
Edit: its late and i need some sleep. I apologize if there seems to be some bubbles in my explanation, I had to recall about a year of problems because of this guy in not even an hour.
EDIT 2: Where would I make a thread about a severe electrical problem my car is having?
EDIT 3: DUY (sc300) i would definitely stay away from ARD after reading this
10-15-2006, 09:18 AM
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Sucks this happen man, but you get what you pay for. Hopefully you can get that thing slapped together and running right. I can vouch for Mike and the G-force guys, drop them a line.
-J
-J
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10-15-2006, 11:27 AM
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Originally Posted by pSSycotic
I know a guy that use to work for Owen over at ARD, first thing he ever told me was to stay away from Owen and ARD
10-15-2006, 01:52 PM
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I met Jdoyle this summer when we had a calc class together, hes a cool dude and ARD straight shafted him. I remember when you told me about the headgasket episode, I about **** myself. Glad to hear LME is setting things straight.
This is Kevin with the white stang. You should give shane a call sometime.
This is Kevin with the white stang. You should give shane a call sometime.
10-15-2006, 02:04 PM
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Originally Posted by jdoyle
well this is going to be a very long post, so ill start off by saying STAY AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE FROM OWEN PRIEST AND ADVANCED RACING DYNAMICS (ARD) AS POSSIBLE im serious this guy is horrible. i just got back from being on the side of I-35 for like 2 hours because of this guys horrible workmanship. I cant believe i gave my car to him, my car is my baby, i feel so stupid.
EDIT 3: DUY (sc300) i would definitely stay away from ARD after reading this
EDIT 3: DUY (sc300) i would definitely stay away from ARD after reading this
damn..im sorry to hear that..Owen has always been good to me...
thanks for the heads up..I hope you get everything taken cared of...
duy
10-15-2006, 07:45 PM
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Originally Posted by jdoyle
well this is going to be a very long post, so ill start off by saying STAY AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE FROM OWEN PRIEST AND ADVANCED RACING DYNAMICS (ARD) AS POSSIBLE im serious this guy is horrible. i just got back from being on the side of I-35 for like 2 hours because of this guys horrible workmanship. I cant believe i gave my car to him, my car is my baby, i feel so stupid.
I bought my car (user Firminater's old car) from Kevin Firmin on March 15, 2005 and soon after a lifter tick developed, pulled the heads off, found my problem, which was a lifter that had half of the roller break off and was completely jammed in the lifter bore. All the bearings had spilled into the motor. I had to pry it out and was like time for a different shortblock.
May 2005, yes i said 2005 So i begin to call around shops and I didnt like what i heard. It was either a fully forged shortblock or a brand new longblock. I didnt have the money for either, they were very expensive. Then i called ARD, they said they give me a rebuilt 6.0 iron shortblock for a very good price. I decided to go with ARD, what a HUGE mistake.
I am at school right now, and i dont have all information and paperwork with me. Now remember these brands, this is very important in the story. The build specs for the motor were to be NEW rings (stock 6.0) and bearings (clevite, durabond), Mellings Oil Pump, Crane double roller timing chain, Comp R Lifters, a good cylinder hone, etc etc, other stuff, yada yada yada and a tune.
Fast forward to sometime after July 15, 2005. I get the car back from Owen and soon after the oil pressure is horrible (like maybe 20 psi hot idle). I havent even had the car a day. I see one of his techs driving around, I flag him down, he sees the shitty pressure, tells me to bring it in the next day.
Bring the car in the next day and I get a call later that a rod bolt broke and was preventing the motor from recieiving proper lubrication. (I think this is BS.) He says he's gonna put in ARP Rod bolts. I say beautiful.
Pick the car up, now the bitch smokes like a ****** freight train. Call Owen, he says use different oil. i use different oil. Same thing, smokes like cheech n chong. Call owen, he says bring it in. I bring it in, he says time for another rebuild, complements of ARD.
**This will definitely not be the last time this motor gets rebuilt complements of ARD. The motor was rebuilt on ARD's dollar at least like 3 or 4 times. This bullshit started last summer time and like i mentioned earlier, i am still suffering from his crappy workmanship as i type this sentence.
For the sake of our time, lets fast forward a few builds later. All of the rebuilds were due to the same problem, burning oil and smoking like a freight train, everytime. All rebuilds were on ARD's dollar.
Ok i am on the last of Owen @ ARD's builds and it is time for him to tune it. Strap that baby on the dyno and he pulls it. First run, the headgaskets blow. Hmmmmm. Owen and his tech who is in the car do not know this tho, neither do i, i find out later. Get ready for this, they procede to do 3 more FULL pulls Afterwards, Owen's wife comes out and notices the coolant under the dyno from my car and breaks the news. ARD says we are taking the heads off to make sure they are still straight.
I get a call that my heads are still straight and will be going back on the car. I pick up the car later, and I cant even make it to my house, before I have shitty oil pressure. I dont even live 30 mins away. This is terrible. Call owen, bring it back in, NEW Oil Pump, a Mellings, just like i paid for, or so i thought.
Pick the car up with the new pump, leave to go home, same situation again, shitty *** oil pressure like before. Bring it back, same routine. By this time, I have had enough and keep my car with me.
My ARD motor came with a one year unlimited mile warranty. Now i have had this motor and all its problems for about 9 months, and i am very concerned with many factors, motor durability, being the most important. I have had the car for about a year or so, and its been at ARD longer than its been in my driveway. My father and I go to speak with Owen about extending the warranty, he is very stubborn and says he will not extend the warranty on this motor, not one day. Now thats what i call quality customer service, Im freaking done with this fool.
Summer 2006. One Year and I have yet to have a fully functioning car. I give Bryan @ LME a call, and soon after he has my motor after I removed it. HERE COMES THE BEST PART , discoveries upon dissassembly. Oh the delight. Remember that Mellings Oil Pump i mentioned earlier? HAHA ya right, it was a broken GM Oil pump, with severe scarring and discoloration, which was found after we had to remove the STRIPPED bolts to examine it, and thats just the beginning. The rings were stock LS1 rings, reused my from my original motor. Now if i remember correctly, the LS1 and LQX do not have the same bore, and using LS1 rings in a LQX would result in severe oil consumption issues. The Crane double roller timing set i paid for? HAHAHAHA think again, it was the stocker. Bryan mentioned how horrible the hone was, another thing i paid for ARD to do, that didnt get done, even tho they had my car forever.
*****Bryan and the crew at LME have taken care of me very well. Very good builders over there guys, dont hesitate to get it done right the first time. I honestly cannot thank them enough. THANK YOU LME!!
Now dont even get me started on the man's horrrrrrible workmanship. Everyting was done to get by just by the seat of your ***. I had flywheel bolts in the crossmember, I only had 2 bolts holding my coil packs to the VCs, many wires and sensors had been cut and/or severely damaged, 2 bolts holding the AC compressor on, I mean there was problematic bullshit everywhere, way way too much to list. Owen Priest should not be touching an LS1 car, thats all I have to say. Oh and you should see the garage, it looks like a **** bomb exploded in there.
**************This thread is dropping the hammer on his shop LIGHTLY. There are many more things that I could type about, but i think that you guys get the jist of it. Now you know why you never see any ARD cars putting up numbers at the track, or any ARD street cars roaming the streets of houston, cuz they are all dead, because of ARDs horrible services. Hell, the shop car doesnt even run.
CLIFF NOTES: DONT EVER TAKE YOUR CAR TO ARD, EVER. OWEN PREIST = BAD. I apologize for not posting this earlier.
Edit: its late and i need some sleep. I apologize if there seems to be some bubbles in my explanation, I had to recall about a year of problems because of this guy in not even an hour.
EDIT 2: Where would I make a thread about a severe electrical problem my car is having?
EDIT 3: DUY (sc300) i would definitely stay away from ARD after reading this
I bought my car (user Firminater's old car) from Kevin Firmin on March 15, 2005 and soon after a lifter tick developed, pulled the heads off, found my problem, which was a lifter that had half of the roller break off and was completely jammed in the lifter bore. All the bearings had spilled into the motor. I had to pry it out and was like time for a different shortblock.
May 2005, yes i said 2005 So i begin to call around shops and I didnt like what i heard. It was either a fully forged shortblock or a brand new longblock. I didnt have the money for either, they were very expensive. Then i called ARD, they said they give me a rebuilt 6.0 iron shortblock for a very good price. I decided to go with ARD, what a HUGE mistake.
I am at school right now, and i dont have all information and paperwork with me. Now remember these brands, this is very important in the story. The build specs for the motor were to be NEW rings (stock 6.0) and bearings (clevite, durabond), Mellings Oil Pump, Crane double roller timing chain, Comp R Lifters, a good cylinder hone, etc etc, other stuff, yada yada yada and a tune.
Fast forward to sometime after July 15, 2005. I get the car back from Owen and soon after the oil pressure is horrible (like maybe 20 psi hot idle). I havent even had the car a day. I see one of his techs driving around, I flag him down, he sees the shitty pressure, tells me to bring it in the next day.
Bring the car in the next day and I get a call later that a rod bolt broke and was preventing the motor from recieiving proper lubrication. (I think this is BS.) He says he's gonna put in ARP Rod bolts. I say beautiful.
Pick the car up, now the bitch smokes like a ****** freight train. Call Owen, he says use different oil. i use different oil. Same thing, smokes like cheech n chong. Call owen, he says bring it in. I bring it in, he says time for another rebuild, complements of ARD.
**This will definitely not be the last time this motor gets rebuilt complements of ARD. The motor was rebuilt on ARD's dollar at least like 3 or 4 times. This bullshit started last summer time and like i mentioned earlier, i am still suffering from his crappy workmanship as i type this sentence.
For the sake of our time, lets fast forward a few builds later. All of the rebuilds were due to the same problem, burning oil and smoking like a freight train, everytime. All rebuilds were on ARD's dollar.
Ok i am on the last of Owen @ ARD's builds and it is time for him to tune it. Strap that baby on the dyno and he pulls it. First run, the headgaskets blow. Hmmmmm. Owen and his tech who is in the car do not know this tho, neither do i, i find out later. Get ready for this, they procede to do 3 more FULL pulls Afterwards, Owen's wife comes out and notices the coolant under the dyno from my car and breaks the news. ARD says we are taking the heads off to make sure they are still straight.
I get a call that my heads are still straight and will be going back on the car. I pick up the car later, and I cant even make it to my house, before I have shitty oil pressure. I dont even live 30 mins away. This is terrible. Call owen, bring it back in, NEW Oil Pump, a Mellings, just like i paid for, or so i thought.
Pick the car up with the new pump, leave to go home, same situation again, shitty *** oil pressure like before. Bring it back, same routine. By this time, I have had enough and keep my car with me.
My ARD motor came with a one year unlimited mile warranty. Now i have had this motor and all its problems for about 9 months, and i am very concerned with many factors, motor durability, being the most important. I have had the car for about a year or so, and its been at ARD longer than its been in my driveway.
My father and I go to speak with Owen about extending the warranty, he is very stubborn and says he will not extend the warranty on this motor, not one day. Now thats what i call quality customer service, Im freaking done with this fool. Summer 2006. One Year and I have yet to have a fully functioning car. I give Bryan @ LME a call, and soon after he has my motor after I removed it. HERE COMES THE BEST PART , discoveries upon dissassembly. Oh the delight. Remember that Mellings Oil Pump i mentioned earlier? HAHA ya right, it was a broken GM Oil pump, with severe scarring and discoloration, which was found after we had to remove the STRIPPED bolts to examine it, and thats just the beginning. The rings were stock LS1 rings, reused my from my original motor. Now if i remember correctly, the LS1 and LQX do not have the same bore, and using LS1 rings in a LQX would result in severe oil consumption issues. The Crane double roller timing set i paid for? HAHAHAHA think again, it was the stocker. Bryan mentioned how horrible the hone was, another thing i paid for ARD to do, that didnt get done, even tho they had my car forever.
*****Bryan and the crew at LME have taken care of me very well. Very good builders over there guys, dont hesitate to get it done right the first time. I honestly cannot thank them enough. THANK YOU LME!!
Now dont even get me started on the man's horrrrrrible workmanship. Everyting was done to get by just by the seat of your ***. I had flywheel bolts in the crossmember, I only had 2 bolts holding my coil packs to the VCs, many wires and sensors had been cut and/or severely damaged, 2 bolts holding the AC compressor on, I mean there was problematic bullshit everywhere, way way too much to list. Owen Priest should not be touching an LS1 car, thats all I have to say. Oh and you should see the garage, it looks like a **** bomb exploded in there.
**************This thread is dropping the hammer on his shop LIGHTLY. There are many more things that I could type about, but i think that you guys get the jist of it. Now you know why you never see any ARD cars putting up numbers at the track, or any ARD street cars roaming the streets of houston, cuz they are all dead, because of ARDs horrible services. Hell, the shop car doesnt even run.
CLIFF NOTES: DONT EVER TAKE YOUR CAR TO ARD, EVER. OWEN PREIST = BAD. I apologize for not posting this earlier.
Edit: its late and i need some sleep. I apologize if there seems to be some bubbles in my explanation, I had to recall about a year of problems because of this guy in not even an hour.
EDIT 2: Where would I make a thread about a severe electrical problem my car is having?
EDIT 3: DUY (sc300) i would definitely stay away from ARD after reading this
10-15-2006, 08:44 PM
#17
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Originally Posted by treysoucie
i was really considering having a 408 done at ard, because they are so close to me.... i dont know now.....
BOSS APPROVED!
10-15-2006, 09:11 PM
#19
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Originally Posted by Urban Legend
I have never had a problem with Owen and/or ARD. Owen has great customer service and has always taken care of me. He even came to pick up my car (3 hours away) for a stage 3 tranny build. I just wanted to put this out there.
